1969 In order to shorten commencement ceremony down to 2 1/2 hours, the senior class was asked to choose between having a graduation speaker or individual degree conferment. The class voted to not have a speaker. (Flat Hat 3/7/1969 pg.1; Alumni Gazette Oct.1969 pg10)

1970 Hon. Edmund S. Muskie, LL.B., U.S. Senator from Maine

1971 Hon. Thomas Nelms Downing, LL.B., Member of Congress First District of Virginia

1972 Ralph W. Ellison, Ph.D., Albert Schweitzer Professor of Humanities New York University

1992 Hon. James A. Baker III, Secretary of State; video is available from C-SPAN

1993 William H. Cosby, Jr., humorist, author, educator, actor

1994 George Will, Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist

1995 Hon. George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States

1996 Hon. Antonin Scalia, Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. One of Honorary degree recipients at 1991 Commencement. See also University Archives Subject Headings under V to C--Scalia, Antonin.

21st Century

2000

2001 John Stewart Bryan II, Chairman, President, and CEO of Media General; Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State (1997-2001) gave the Pamela Harriman address.

2002 A. Lamar Alexander, public servant, educator, businessman, Former U.S. Secretary of Education, Former Governor of Tennessee, Goodman Visiting Professor of Practice in Public Service Harvard University Kennedy School of Government

2003 Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, international negotiator, advocate for democracy and peace, active patron of many national institutions in Jordan, chair of the King Hussein Foundation established in 1999

2007 Robert M. Gates, class of 1965, U.S. Secretary of Defense; Law School Commencement: Judge D. Brooks Smith, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; Baccalaureate service: Rev. William H. Willimon, Bishop of the United Methodist Church and a nationally known pastor and author

2008 Mike Tomlin, Class of 1995, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach; Law School Commencement: Sandra Day O'Connor, Chancellor of the College of William and Mary (2005- ), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court

2013 Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the FBI, 2001-2013, lawyer and United States attorney.

2014 Leroy Petry, Medal of Honor recipient. He was awarded the US military's highest honor for saving the lives of two fellow Army Rangers in Afghanistan, an action that cost Petry his right hand.

2015 Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State 2005-2009

Student Commencement Speakers

The earliest known commencement at which students spoke was the 1792 edition, in which all of the graduating students gave speeches. Before the Civil War, typically most of the graduating students would give a speech at commencement, such as at the 1831, 1857, 1858, and 1860 commencements, for which the Swem SCRC has programs. After the Civil War, the College's two literary societies, the Phoenix Literary Society and the Philomathean Literary Society, were founded. Student speakers typically spoke at their celebrations, typically held a few days prior to the actual commencement. The last of these literary society celebrations seems to have occurred in 1927.

The first student to give a valedictory address during the official commencement was Robert Beason in 1970. The two subsequent years did not feature a student speaker, but there has been one in every commencement since 1973.

1970 Robert Beason

1973 Donald A. Purdy, Jr.

1974 Craig T. Cornwell

1975 James Van Istendal Black

1976 Nancy Carroll Turrentine

1977 Margaret Louise Rollings

1978 Christopher D. Kelly

1979 Margaret A. Nelson

1980 Suzanne W. Doggett

1981 Robert E. Wagner, Jr.

1982 Warren Thomas Prince

1983 David A. Price

1984 Paul C. Kuhnel

1985 Lisa Lindsey Willis

1986 Scott John Ward

1987 Christopher Lee Foote

1988 Rebecca Brooks Edwards

1989 Patricia Maureen Stevenson

1990 James E. Low

1991 Eric V. Hall

1992 Susan Eleanor Brown

1993 James W. Wildman, Jr.

1994 Denzel J. Hankinson

1995 Judith Karen Lorimer

1996 Nicole Monique Woods

1997 Jason Christoper Schemmell

1998 Chad Michael Carr

1999 Laura Ellen Pinnow

2000 James Daniel Finn

2001 Lauren Page Morgan

2002 Alexander Nicholas Pyke

2003 Christian Frederick Hennel

2004 Adam David Stackhouse

2005 Benjamin David Kimble

2006 Matthew William Scranton

2007 Elizabeth Hope Derby

2008 Joshua L. Lovell

2009 Justin Schoonmaker

2010 Joshua Andrew Goldman

2011 Kalyani Hemant Phansalkar

2012 Danielle Marie Greene

2013 Devin Braun

Need help?

To search for further material, visit the Special Collections Research Center's Search Tool List for an overview of the Special Collections Database, W&M Digital Archive, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, card catalogs, and other tools available to help you find material of interest in the Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center.

The information available in this wiki is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Unfortunately, many of the early original records of the College of William and Mary were destroyed by fires, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. The information available here is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in the Swem Library's Special Collections Research Center and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the Special Collections search tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.